What are online home loans?
Online home loans are those that can be dealt with completely online. You can apply, get approved, and manage the loan completely on your computer or even your phone (usually through an app), without ever setting foot in a branch.
These days, most lenders offer online applications, which you might be able to fill out without ever speaking to anyone. There are even some digital-only lenders without any physical branches, while some conventional banks have specific digital-only options. For example, ANZ Plus is only available online—you won’t be able to take out or manage an ANZ Plus mortgage in an ANZ branch, at the time of writing.
How do I apply for an online home loan?
Online home loan applications can be done entirely from your phone or laptop. Other than that, the process is like any loan. You’ll need to prove your identity and demonstrate you’ll be able to pay the loan back. Depending on the lender, you may be asked for some of the following:
- Proof of identity (driver licence, passport, etc.)
- Proof of income (payslips or equivalent)
- Proof of savings (bank statements)
- Credit card statements
- Information about your assets (other properties, cars, shares )
- Information about your debts (loans, credit card debts)
- Information about your household expenses (bills and regular spending)
If you use a broker, they might not be able to recommend online-only products. Digital home loans are often offered direct to consumer, and many aren’t available through broker channels.
Online home loans vs big banks: who offers lower rates?
While big banks do sometimes offer online home loans (CommBank’s Digi Home Loan and ANZ’s ANZ Plus channel being examples), many options come from smaller, digital lenders.
These banks and lenders often don’t have a branch network to maintain, or a massive team of credit analysts to review loan applications. With fewer staff involved and less in the way of intermediary costs (as online-only loans often aren’t offered through brokers), they may be cheaper for a lender to provide, and those savings are often passed on to borrowers.
Indeed, a quick check of Canstar’s home loan database shows online home loans can offer competitive rates.
That said, an online mortgage won’t always be cheaper than a traditional one. The home loan market can be very fluid and rates and fees are always changing, so you shouldn’t just assume that a digital loan will be the lowest rate available.
Canstar keeps track of the average home loan interest rates in Australia if you want to see how your current lender measures up.
Which lenders offer online home loans?
Online-only lenders on Canstar’s database include:
- Athena
- Australian Unity
- Easy Street
- Freedom Lend
- Homestar Finance
- loans.com.au
- ME Bank
- Pacific Mortgage Group
- Reduce Home Loans
- ubank
- Unloan
- Up
- WLTH
Meanwhile, these are some of the conventional banks with online-only options:
- ANZ
- Commonwealth Bank
- Westpac



























































